Catherine Woulfe

Books editor

Catherine Woulfe is the editor of The Spinoff Books and 1972 Magazine. She is an award-winning news and features journalist, and longtime books obsessive. She welcomes pitches of essays or reviews at catherinewoulfe@thespinoff.co.nz

Books
Oct 10, 2020
Cover of novel Victory Park with lights draped behind

Victory Park is the book you'll want to give to the ones you love

Victory Park is the first novel from Mākaro Press since August 2019, when they put out a little book called Auē.

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Books
Aug 30, 2020

Eileen Merriman's new novel is sharp, sensual and her finest yet

Quite possibly the best NZ novel of the year, according to our books editor.

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Books
Aug 18, 2020

I spent far too much time thinking about Midnight Sun

A review of the new Twilight novel, which is actually the old story, told from the perspective of vampire Edward Cullen.

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Books
Aug 6, 2020

One man’s poetic pilgrimage along the river he loves

Catherine Woulfe reviews Upstream on the Mataura, a memoir by Gore flyfisherman Dougal Rillstone chronicling his journey along the Southland river.

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Books
Aug 5, 2020

‘Writing as Edward stressed me out’: Stephenie Meyer on returning to Twilight

The Twilight author on gender politics, anxiety, and the dark experience of writing as Edward Cullen.

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Te Hiringa Hauora
Jul 14, 2020

‘There is a way through’: Mothers open up about maternal mental distress

Four women share their experiences with perinatal distress, and how to get through it.

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Books
Jun 16, 2020

The book that saved me from peak Covid-19 anxiety

Thank goodness for Wendyl Nissen and her chooks.

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Books
May 19, 2020

A sincere appreciation of The Hunger Games

On the release of a new Hunger Games novel, we look back and marvel.

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Books
May 12, 2020

Introducing the Ockhams-ready Spinoff book awards bingo card!

Play along at home during the virtual awards ceremony tonight.

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Books
May 3, 2020

Did the Covid-19 crisis bork your attention span? Here’s why

We ask a clinical psychologist why our attention spans are so completely shot to pieces – and how to fix it.

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Society
Mar 25, 2020

My dad, locked down

All I can do, now, is wrap him up in love and trust that the people who are looking after him are wrapping him up in love, too.

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Books
Mar 4, 2020

The Ockham finalists just got announced, and two very hot books are missing

Ladies and gentlemen we have a horse race. Books editor Catherine Woulfe offers up some odds.

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Books
Feb 29, 2020

The teacher stories

I had planned to write an unabashed rave review, and then another book landed in my letterbox – and I just couldn't read those stories in isolation from my own experience.

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Books
Jan 30, 2020

Breaking news: the Ockhams 2020 finalists, a chorus of triumph and travesty

Here are the 40 books that made it, followed by some frank thoughts from our books editor.

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Books
Jan 5, 2020

Three Women: The astonishing study of female desire that has everyone talking

Three Women is a fervent, scrupulous qualitative review of female desire. It’s also a lesson in commitment – and the powerful act of paying attention.

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Books
Dec 17, 2019

Decade in review: 10 defining New Zealand books of the 2010s

The loss of innocence, the revitalisation of te reo, the rising up of women and of LGBTQ rights – the decade has been a ride. Here are our pick of …

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Books
Dec 10, 2019

The 10 best New Zealand children’s books of 2019

Arriving in bookstores now, New Zealand Nature Heroes is optimistic and surprising and all kinds of wonderful.

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Books
Dec 3, 2019

Review: A Madness of Sunshine made me really, really mad

Books editor Catherine Woulfe on the much-anticipated first thriller by New Zealander and New York Times bestseller, Nalini Singh. 

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Books
Nov 25, 2019

An interview with the legend who covered white supremacist posters in poetry

'I could’ve drawn a big penis on it, you know, but that’s really unoriginal.'

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Books
Nov 16, 2019

Welcome to the jungle: The Burning River, reviewed

Books editor Catherine Woulfe follows Wellington author Lawrence Patchett into his extraordinary story of heat and water and history repeating. 

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Hello Fresh
Nov 14, 2019

When having two kids is infinitely easier than one

Catherine Woulfe welcomes the daughter she fought for.

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Books
Oct 14, 2019

A books editor confesses: I haven’t read the Booker shortlist. Any of them

On the eve of the announcement of the winner of the 2019 Booker prize, books editor Catherine Woulfe outs herself as a giant know-nothing. 

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Business
Oct 1, 2019

Bravely going where no nappy company has gone before

They might be on the pricier side but books editor Catherine Woulfe is feeling much better using startup Little & Brave's compostable nappies to deal with her daughter's epic poos.

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Books
Sep 9, 2019

Women, pain and anti-vaxxers: Why medicine is due for a feminist reckoning

Gabrielle Jackson is a Sydney-based Guardian journalist who has written a book about her pain, and the pain of women, and the ways in which the medical system is making it worse.

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Books
Sep 3, 2019

Linda Burgess, this is your life: her new essay collection, reviewed

Loved Linda Burgess's essays for The Spinoff? Now she's written a whole book of 'em. And it is, predictably, terrific.

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Books
Aug 7, 2019

The Children’s Book of the Year is an absolute joy

Announcing the winners of the 2019 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young People. 

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